Night of Stars
by BurrbleFish
Summary: Sakura was a complicated woman. Finally, a day off comes around, and instead she finds Shikamaru in a field. Now... who's to say she can't make him gaze at the stars instead of watch the clouds with her tonight? :: ShikaSaku


**• Rated K+ •**

* * *

**• NIGHT OF STARS •**

* * *

Sakura Haruno was a complicated woman.

Despite these complications, she was also a rather well-known woman. But these days, a great title was hard to live up to, and just a big name wasn't going to cut it.

Most days it was hard to find some alone time and get some decent rest. There was always a call at the hospital, always a mission to get done, always a person to meet with. At this point, it was just plain _tiring_. The number of hours she slept were trimmed down to three at most - every week. Thanks to chakra pills and some insane strength to boot, she'd been able to put up a fight with sleep quietly trying to seduce her into a warm darkness. But heck, she's been losing.

She loved her job, honest to goodness. But _maybeee_, some rest every now and then as a reward would be nice.

Being who she was, plenty of people originally looked down on her. They all doubted her and figured she was just dead-weight. Like another fan-girl who hardly knew how to hold a kunai right. Like a rag doll thrown around in a fight. Like some _weakling_.

And here she was, rubbing it all in their faces. Now, she could whip out kunai with nearly a hundred percent accuracy. Now, she could jump into a fight without being noticed until the third kill. Now, she was strong.

Yet those choice few people who choose to still view her weak do exist.

Kakashi Hatake, her old genin teacher that never once taught her one-on-one or hone her skills, didn't properly congratulate her for becoming chunin, and wasn't present for her jounin test. The man who abandoned her. Sure he was hurt over that betrayal, but she was the one to get coldly knocked out and left on a bench. He was never there. Always gone. Suddenly, she's walking to Tsunade at the front of a great hall, officially deemed one of the best ANBU ninja, and where was _he_? Gone with the wind.

Naruto Uzumaki. She loved the guy the way she loved a brother. An incompetent, hard-headed brother, but still great and almighty and definitely wise in his...Naruto-way. You'd think he'd be the most understanding being an outcast when he was younger, being called weak and useless in the past. Nope. He still finds it in himself to protect her at all costs. _All_ costs. It's nice to know he had her back, but _all_ the time? Made her seem like another damsel in distress while in reality she's been able to match his chakra supply and shadow nin with spot-on control and superior strength. Most of his "_saving_" just earns him a lump on the head, and an irritated woman ready to stomp on his jaw, heal it, then repeat it.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

And finally, that one guy. What was his name? Yeah, _him_. The incorrigible jerk himself, Sasuke Uchiha.

...

...'Nuff said.

She used to be someone floating in dreamland. Always had her head up in the clouds, dreaming of trends and gossip and boys. Then reality caught a hold of her ankle and weighed her down back to Earth. And it gave her a cold, hard, wake-up slap to the face.

Instead of letting life pass by and leisurely taking it in, she lived quickly, running through time, no moment wasted to stop. She didn't know how to stop. She couldn't afford to stop.

All because she used to be the one overlooked. And now she had some catching up to do.

Once reality struck her across the face, it was like she had finally opened her eyes. The girl who only - and barely - had just a brain going for her. The girl with little stamina. The girl who couldn't make a fist. The girl with no accuracy. The girl with no skill. The girl with no title.

_The girl, the girl, the girl._

Now, here she was. One of the top strategists, precise chakra control, monstrous strength, point-zero weapon master, effective killer and healer. The Flower of Konoha. The Hokage's Apprentice. ANBU Captain Sakura Haruno.

_Weak_. And now?

You do the math.

* * *

Sakura exited the great doors of the Hokage Tower, tying her porcelain feline mask against the pouch near her hip, hiding the design to remain unidentified. A sigh rolled past her pink lips and she scrunched her eyebrows together in an effort to stay awake.

"Goodbye, Sakura."

A firm, pale hand tapped her shoulder and she flicked a gaze over to acknowledge the gesture.

"Goodbye, Neji."

Neji Hyuuga nodded, retracting his arm. As he moved away, the barest glimpse of a smile touched upon his lips, and then he was gone in a swirl of vanilla petals. The scent followed him and Sakura breathed in the calming smell.

Which did nothing to ward away her fatigue.

Coming back from a gruelling S-class mission teamed up with Neji and Shino was rough - especially since they didn't have the fourth member of their team.

Shino fought with a rather large man, that could mend his bones into metal, and nearly got killed. Every body-slam snapped a rib. Luckily his little buggers managed to get in there and disable the chakra flow so the metal wasn't able to appear. And those same creepy crawlers ate the man's chakra reserves and killed him.

Neji combatted his own mini battalion, though it wasn't much to fret about. He ended it quickly with some fancy chakra blockage and Hyuuga techniques. He managed to get away with a couple cuts and bruises and one major blow to the stomach that was healed on the spot.

Courtesy of Sakura.

She ended up against a pair of conjoined, siamese twins. Gemini twins. They were freaky considering how they were joined at the back, and she found herself distracted when one got onto their hands and knees while the other waved the double swords. And in mid-move they'd switch it out. And it gets better - while standing they have a sword each.

When she stopped getting distracted - took a while, cough - she sliced down their backs and managed to separate their joined vertebrae. And what's a living vertebrate without a vertebrae? Nothing. So once that fell out, their hearts had no support from the back and dropped like lumps.

SPLAT.

Kunai lodged into the organs and they're dead.

Sakura did get injured, but it was mostly their blood smeared on her clothes. Injuries were minor, and clothes got torn a bit. Nothing to sweat about.

They had to rush Shino back home to heal him properly, and along the way, a lung was punctured. Luckily, Sakura was able to patch it up and mend the broken bones together upon arrival back into the village.

Once the adrenaline from that wore off, fatigue hit her and suddenly, everything ached for a long nap. But she pushed to give Tsunade the report.

And _now_?

Now she wanted to go home.

Tsunade thankfully gave her the rest of the day and all of tomorrow off. Spent sleeping. But she couldn't sleep now. Not until she's eaten at the very least.

So Sakura strolled down the street, the bright blue afternoon sky dulling a few shades to welcome sunset soon. Pinks and oranges and purples mingled together in the horizon and it delighted her senses, tickling her taste buds for something sweet and fruity.

Ah.

Perfect.

"Oji-san," she called to the old man at one stand to her left. He caught sight of the Hokage's apprentice and smiled a warm, welcoming smile.

"Ya, Sakura-chan," he remarked with mirth, jolly and alive. "Returning from a mission?"

"Yes sir," she replied, gracing him with a smile of her own. He began scooping cold, fresh, chopped fruit into a bowl, the gelatin swirling around and the chilled juice splashing.

"Are you off to finally get some rest?"

She took the cool bowl with both hands, bowing her head. In exchange were some ryo to pay for the snack. "Yup, I'm off. Have a good night, Oji-san."

He grinned, teeth showing brilliantly, and waved farewell as she walked away.

A nice sunset walk would be perfect to relax her senses. If she slept now, tired and tense, she'd wake up with a giant migraine. Swishing the contents of her bowl around, she walked down the slightly narrowing path, leading towards the training grounds.

The Yamanaka flower shop, the Inuzuka veterinary office. Ah.

The red bridge.

A wave of nostalgia passed through Sakura's body, a warm sensation that contrasted the chill of fruit. She shook her head then tipped the bowl onto her lips, letting the last of the cold jelly and slices of strawberries enter her mouth. She chewed quietly and slowly, savoring the sweetness.

Her feet took her to the bridge and she leaned over the side and caught small fish in the bowl. She left the bowl on the railing, birds chirping up a storm nearby for the easy food.

"Freaking lazy a-Sakura?"

Mumbling gradually turned into her name and Sakura craned her head away from the birds feasting on the fish to see her best friend standing a few meters away.

Ino drank in the sight of her friend turned rival turned friend. It was common knowledge this was the girl who proved the world wrong, and she couldn't be any prouder of it and of her. Though it was surprising to see her here. Or anywhere near this bridge.

This red bridge.

Team 7's bridge.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned the pink-haired girl, walking closer once the surprise wore off.

Sakura giggled. "Nothing, just walking around. What about you?"

Tattered uniform? Blood stains? ...Hm. Mission? "Went to go check up Shika," she pointedly said, rolling her eyes and jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "Did you just get back from your mission?"

"Yup." Sakura's eyes rolled into the forest, then back to Ino's face. "Shikamaru's training?"

"Cloud-watching." Ino sighed, exasperated. "He's so freaking lazy, I can't even deal with him. How can a ninja like him be so relaxed all the time?"

Sakura laughed. "He's a special one."

"Special one, alright. Well, I've gotta get home, dad's coming back from his mission, too." Ino locked her best friend in a hug then pulled back to flash pearly whites in a wide grin.

"Seeya later, Forehead~!"

"Bye, Pig."

And away she was.

Sakura looked down at the bridge beneath her feet momentarily, then off towards the forest.

Shikamaru.

She'd known him since day one of the academy. The boy genius who was so lackadaisical, it was as if being lazy was just a cover-up. Which was a yes and no. At first, she had the same view of him as Ino - lazy, boring, moving on.

But Sakura's seen him in action, both on the battlefield and in the strategists' conferences. Of course, before she could ask, Temari would jump in and whisk him away.

Sometimes it made her wonder if they had a thing for each other.

Now, though, he, Neji, Shino, and her were all a part of a team. So technically, Temari was no sweat over this.

He wasn't lazy. Just was in need of peace. Some time to calm him from the rough and harsh endeavors of a ninja. It was the opposite of her.

She lived life jumping from tree to tree. He lived it strolling on the forest floor.

"Hm..."

Sakura pushed herself away from the railing and began to walk slowly into the training grounds, disappearing into the greenery. It was approaching sunset, meaning there wouldn't be many clouds. Instead, stars would be found astray in the vast sky.

Star-gazing was a faint memory of hers now.

When she was younger, back when being a ninja or being pretty for Sasuke didn't matter, it was what she did. In the past. Where her parents weren't always away on civilian work, she remembered a time when the three of them had hiked up the Hokage Monument and had a moonlit picnic.

The stars were littered everywhere, like sugar crystals powdering a dark plate. They looked so bright and so close, but so far. Sakura could remember trying to reach for the large, round moon as if she could pluck it out of the sky and cradle it in her arms.

That was where the last of her childhood was tucked away. With the night sky.

She'd found Shikamaru laying in a bed of grass as green as her eyes. He was laying, eyes open but faraway. Distant. As if he weren't on the ground.

As if he were flying with the clouds.

But the clouds were thinning. Disappearing with the fruity slush of the sky.

Sakura walked over to him, silent and careful. But it didn't seem like stealth mattered considering how distracted he appeared to be.

First she was sitting beside him, waiting for him to realize she was there. And then she began to roll down onto her shoulders. No luck.

But then she was down. Cool dew touched the back of her shoulders, soothing her tense, heated, overworked muscles down to the core. Her hair curled around the grasses, the smell of fresh spring water floating around in the air. Her emerald eyes, hard and jaded, looked up at the sunset, which was coming to an end, and a gentleness entered them.

Suddenly the sky was veiled in darkened purple velvet, and diamonds began to peek from within. Like looking into a jewelry store with very little light, a thousand crystals lit up the night.

A symphony of crickets and frogs and owl hoots began a harmonious instrumental. Like a conductor, the branches of the olden willows and the newborn maples began to waver back and forth delicately in the breeze.

It was like being caressed by the dark-kissed world.

Here, peace existed.

Instantaneously, it was as if she could feel Shikamaru's soul return to his body.

He sighed almost imperceptively, then shifted his eyes. He rippled slightly, startled at seeing her lay there.

"Hey..." she softly mumbled out. Something about it sounded a tad distracted.

"Hello." She felt his eyes scan her appearance.

It was finally completely dark in the world save for the tiny diamonds peppering the plate of the sky. The melody of nocturnal creatures began to present themselves to the man beside her and he noticed the time.

He began to stand up.

"Leaving so soon?" Sakura inquired, still laying in the grass, still finding a calm within herself.

Shikamaru looked down at her, gaze slightly questioning. It was then that his eyes roamed over the blood stains, the rips and tears, the injuries.

And then they stopped at her precious emeralds, which were dimmer now. For a reason he didn't seem to know.

"...Yeah..."

It had taken a while to answer. Sakura hadn't registered it until he had begun walking away.

"Why?" she quietly called out.

Shikamaru paused momentarily. "...What?"

"Why?" she repeated patiently.

She felt eyes on her now. "Why what?"

"Why are you leaving so suddenly?"

He made a movement and Sakura craned her neck to look up at him for a better view. His hands immediately went into his pockets, like second nature. "It's not day time," he said. "No clouds out here."

Sakura stared. "...But what about night-time?" she murmured.

A look flashed across his eyes. "...I...Hn..."

Great. A grunt isn't an answer, for your information.

Sakura shifted her body slightly in response. "You don't like watching at night?"

She felt the moon appear after the last of the clouds were washed away, and it illuminated the night. She could see Shikamaru's stare change with a different expression.

He caught himself.

"No, it's not really my thing."

She watched him a bit longer then sighed softly, dropping her head back into its regular position facing the sky.

For a moment it was silent. Then...

"Star-gazing is better than cloud-watching." She said it as if she were oblivious.

"No, it isn't," was the faint mutter in response. A touch of a smile reached her lips.

"Yes, it is."

"Isn't."

"Is."

_"Isn't."_

_"Is."_

_"Sakura."_

"Shika."

Mirth hung in the air, just slightly detectable. Sakura sighed to wipe the smile on her lips.

"Why is cloud-watching so special?" she asked, speaking her words in a smooth drawl.

The question was thrown into the wind as a silence stretched out.

He began to move, feet brushing through the grass. He sat himself down beside her laying figure and began to rake through his mind for an answer.

"Because when you cloud-watch," he began as if he were reciting something, "you imagine you can fly. And what it's like to be able to lay on the clouds and feel the sun. It's an escape."

After he finished speaking, he looked horrified just for a moment. What now?

Just a chuckle.

Shikamaru glanced down at her as she produced a light, tingling sound.

"Who's to say it's nothing like star-gazing?" she followed-up. The way she asked it made it sound almost rhetorical.

Except in the moment where his mind could hardly function, he took it literally. "The night-time brings danger, Sakura. Danger and fear."

Sakura sighed, attempting to wipe away another oncoming smile. He was so ignorant. She rolled onto her side.

"Sakura-"

"-Night time could also bring tranquility," she cut in carefully. "It brings peace like the day time." The way it does for her.

"When people see day time, they look forward to the light," Shikamaru defended. "The light's something everyone looks for in life because it means hope."

And so the inevitably civilian-like question: "But what if it's false hope?"

He paused in his inner ramblings and glanced down at her, contemplating. "...False...hope...? Like...Like fake_ light_?" It was like opening a book and learning there were things he didn't understand inside. Things he'd...well, he'd try to commit to memory and gain.

She nodded. "Yeah, like fake light. False hope. All of that." She rolled flat onto her back again and faced the sky. "It's tranquil out here."

"We could get _killed_ at anytime out here," Shikamaru easily pointed out. "Enemies like to strike in the dark."

"It's tranquil," she repeated defiantly.

"What are you-"

"Just see for yourself," she insisted. He was silenced at the sudden eye-contact. "_Try_."

He sucked in a breath and hesitated.

It seemed like he understood - a minute jerk of the head and he began to uncross his legs. He stretched them out before him and let the rest of his body be pulled by gravity.

Sakura stopped watching him when she felt his body tense and relax. A miniscule smile touched her lips and she limply motioned to the sky. Like weight being lifted off of the ground, she felt him disappear into the night sky.

Most nights, she'd disappear as well. But not tonight.

Shikamaru being beside her was anchoring her to the ground.

Shikamaru...ah, _Shikamaru_.

He was a lazy soul, man of little words. But tonight, he was speaking volumes. It was like suddenly she understood him. She never truly had in the past.

She thought he was first just someone who had no care and no interest in anything. As if his dad had picked him up and dropped him into the ninja academy, and it didn't affect him one bit. But then as they grew up together with the difficulties of their generation, potentials began to get exposed.

He became an ANBU operative alongside her and Neji and Shino. They became the ultimate dream-team in the ninja world, made up of the strongest shinobi Konoha could scrounge up. They were a diverse team, but they were a great team that moved as one like a well-oiled machine.

They were a team that paved a path and covered their tracks. The Untouchable Team.

But tonight it was different.

Tonight it wasn't Master Strategist, Shadow Manipulator, Nara Heir, Shikamaru Nara and The Flower of Konoha, Top Medic, Hokage's Apprentice, Sakura Haruno, two élite ANBU Shinobi in the Untouchable Team from Konohagakure Sato, the Hi no Kuni.

Tonight, they were Shikamaru and Sakura in a bed of grass, lost among the stars.

_Tonight...tonight...tonight..._

She turned her head to the right, letting it fall limp in the blades of grass brushing her face. Her eyes twinkled as she stared at the man beside her. He was a wondrous man, mysterious in his own way.

Deep black hair covered his head, soft and slightly messy but pulled up and tied together in its signature pineapple appearance. He had skin a bit tanner than hers, but still pale, probably from laying outside all day. But it had no sign of aging, as if he'd forever stay perfect. Eyes a deep chocolate color, softly constructed cheek bones, defined jaw. A silver ring through his earlobe.

He was so relaxed and away, the gaze in his eyes awestruck. The night sky was pulling him in and he was swimming in the calm, serene darkness.

Suddenly, she didn't see him as her partner in crime, and friend.

But her vision began to blur, colors mixing together as if a hand touched the face of a pond, rippling. Her eyelids began to stretch over her emeralds, gaining weight. She felt so tired, so fatigued.

With a finally, fighting stare at the man beside her, she sank into darkness and welcomed sleep.

She vaguely registered arms lifting her up and a faint muttering, and she smiled unnoticeably at the faint, faraway sounds and sensations. Instead she snuggled closer to the heat cradling her, finding a heartbeat.

Again, she let the sky swallow her into nothing.

Beneath the night of stars, Sakura Haruno fell in love.

* * *

**********•** Hello~! ******•**

******•** **So this is supposed to be like a re-telling of 'Starry Night' but in Sakura's POV ********•**

******•** **I decided to stick with something simple in order to make my way back into a schedule of updating for this site and LovingPillow gave me the idea to do a Sakura version. So this is dedicated to you; thank you~! ********•**

******•** **Oh, and also, it's not necessary to read 'Starry Night' to read this, and vice versa. ********•**

******•** **I hope you enjoy both! Thank you, and till next time ********•**

**-burrblefish**


End file.
